Today, we discuss the Mercosur-EU trade deal. Why did it take so long? Who wins from it? And what will be the repercussions for Brazil and South America.
The week in review
39 kilos. A Brazilian Air Force sergeant was arrested in Seville carrying 39 kilos of cocaine in his hand luggage. The officer was a crew member on President Jair Bolsonaro’s backup plane—which flew in an advance party to Osaka (via Seville), where the G20 summit is underway. The government promised a rapid and rigorous investigation to identify whether the sergeant is a member of a drug ring. He had been a part of at least 29 international military convoys, under Michel Temer, Dilma Rousseff, and Mr. Bolsonaro.
G20. Mr. Bolsonaro’s debut at the G20 started off tense, with a public squabble on environmental issues with Germany’s Angela Merkel and France’s Emmanuel Macron. But the Brazilian leader later toned down his rhetoric and had informal meetings with the two. In a speech to BRICS nations, Mr. Bolsonaro adopted a moderate tone, defending multilateralism, reforms to the World Trade Organization, and defended reducing protectionism. Early drafts of the speech promoted nationalism and a...